This post could be quite long and detailed, I’m not a fan of making really long posts, so I won’t.  I am a fan of supplying you with ideas and thoughts to prick your curiosity.  Then you can own your own healing, health, and life journey. Because as one of my favorite authors and teachers stated once, “No one can give you an eduction. You must take it.”, John Taylor Gatto

It is interesting to me that many of these methods have been studied and shown to help, but we don’t hear much about them and if we do they are considered woo-woo. None of that has ever stopped me from jumping feet first into things.  I hope it doesn’t stop you. I hope you try these things and some of them fail you.  I also hope you try some of these things and some of them really help you. Lets move on to your Permaculture Zone 00- YOU!

So your body is super complex and needs continual care and upkeep to operate well.  It’s like the computer I am writing this on.  Lots of little things are happening behind the scenes that I can’t see. But if updates and care don’t take place the whole thing comes crashing to the ground.  I admittedly don’t understand a lot about computers. I understand a little more about our health.  I understand A LOT more about what happens when your body crashes and won’t update. Because of this I have learned what MY body needs (we are all different). By the time your body gets to this crash and burn stage your body has been trying to message you, we just have to learn to read these messages and then once we are back up and operating again we have to download the updates.

One of the things we can do for our body is make sure our lymph system is able to work properly.  I really can’t say it any better than this, “The lymphatic system is the metabolic garbage can of the body. It rids you of toxins such as dead and cancerous cells, nitrogenous wastes, infectious viruses, heavy metals, and other assorted junk cast off by the cells.’, Dr. Scrivens (this study on rebounding). To understand what the lymphatic system is and how it works you can read this article from The Cleveland Clinic. Most people know what a lymph node is because often when we get sick we have swollen nodes in the neck.  Your tonsils and adenoids are part of your lymph system as well. Something many have had removed. You can find lymphatic system diagram to help you better understand your body and how some of the following things may help you (video of the gland).

How is this part of the Rewilder Life? Well, I’m doing my best to be my best and healthiest me.  I take brisk walks in the fresh air, stretch outside, expose myself to the sun, breathe deeply, sit by fires, brush my skin, drink clean water, and am working on building muscle. What I am avoiding is chemicals on my skin, in my body, in my lungs, and in my home.  We are also avoiding quality and junk food, water impurities, and stress. We are working diligently to remove all of these things from our lives.

Dry Brushing

I really enjoy dry brushing, but for many it is hard on the skin or too harsh at first.  You can use a dry washcloth to start and you can purchase softer bristled brushes. Dry brushing is exactly what it sounds like.  You use a dry natural bristled brush to gently brush the skin. You keep those lymph nodes in mind when you do this brushing and brush the skin toward a lymph node to encourage movement and drainage. I am placing a video made by a physical therapist on how to dry brush most efficiently, she has several videos on this subject. Proper hydration will help with this process greatly.  One of the other benefits of dry brushing is it stimulates the nervous system, gets rid of dead skin cells, may help with cellulite or the appearance of it.

Manual Lymphatic Drainage

This is basically a massage you do yourself but it is done for the specific reason of helping your lymphatic system drain, it can be helpful for many health concerns.  The same physical therapist I place a video of above has a whole video on this subject as well.  What is nice about this is there is no expense to watching the video and doing it.

Movement

Many people use a mini trampoline for this but any movement can stimulate the lymph system to drain (study).  You don’t need any tools to go on a brisk walk, jump, walk up and down stairs, stretch, or build muscle.  It can even can happen if you must exercise while sitting in a chair.  Your lymph system part of the circulatory system so this is why it is helpful to get moving and get your heart rate up.

Cold, Heat, Light and breathing

These are all topics more in the natural health realm, I have not found studies on them but they do make sense.  What these do is get your heart rate up without physical movement.  It’s a pretty passive way to help improve lymphatic drainage. Many people start cold or heat therapies with just turning the shower colder or warmer.  You could turn the heat down or sit outside when its cold. For heating things up you could just pile some blankets on (what many do when they have a fever or are sick). Breathing exercises can be done many ways, I highly suggest starting these laying down (I may have done some Wim Hoff and almost passed out before).

And last but the easiest, Hydration

It’s pretty simple, drink water.  Now it sounds simple BUT you can also drink so much that you flush important minerals from your body.  I actually drink sole water and make sure to keep my minerals up (not everyone needs salt or minerals, my diet has no processed food in it so I have to add salt). I add minerals to my water, many may not need them (basic list: calcium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, chloride, magnesium, iron, zinc, iodine, sulfur, cobalt, copper, fluoride, manganese, and selenium).

Water quality is very important to me.  Even on our well I filter our water using a Zero water pitcher. Water is often not tested until there is a problem and it has been consumed for a while at that point.  In my opinion it is best to be safe.

There is more, I know there is, but you get the point.  Lets work on getting that Permaculture Zone 00 in tip top shape!

Below are Amazon links, I am an affiliate  and make a small amount of money from purchases, thank you for your support.

Glass Zero Pitcher (my fave): Link

Thrifty Zero Pitcher:Link

Dry Brush with long handle: Link